Hamilton Seahawks wave provincial flag football banner

No matter which team won, Hamilton was going to reign supreme when the final whistle signaled the NFL/CFL Provincial Flag Football champions in the 15 and under division for 2008.

And when the game ended on Sunday (June 22), the Seahawks from the NFL/CFL Hamilton Flag Football 5 on 5 League wore the gold medals, beating city and league rivals, the Patriots, 20-7. The Guelph Seahawks were bronze medalists from the Ontario Football Alliance tournament played at Hamilton’s Mohawk Sports Complex. Ten teams entered the fray, looking for the opportunity to to advance to the NFL/CFL Canadian Flag Football 5 on 5 Championships in Cornwall, P.E.I. on July 2 – 4th.

The Hamilton Seahawks emerged from preliminary round play with a 4-0 to make the semifinals. The Hamilton Jaguars were also 4-0 while the Guelph Seahawks and the Patriots had 3-1 records.

The Hamilton Seahawks won their semi final game against their namesake from Guelph while the Patriots eliminated the Jags.

The gold medal clash started with the Seahawks scoring first when Bryson Cianfrone connected on a pass to Justin Vaughan. Cianfrone’s convert toss to Paul Johnson made the score 7-0 for the only offence in the first half.

The Seahawks took a 13-0 lead to start the second half. Cianfrone tossed a pass to Daniel Petermann who ran down the sidelines to make it 13-0. The convert was unsuccessful.

There was no more scoring until six minutes left in the game when the Patriots’ quarterback, CJ Paduano, found Jeremy Angelini wide open for the touchdown. The duo hooked up again for the convert to cut the Seahawks lead to 13-7. But Seahawks rusher Julia Monaco put the pressure on the Patriot quarterback which resulted in Justin Vaughan intercepting the ball for the Seahawks. On their second play, Cianfrone scrambled around and threw the ball to Vaughan for the touchdown to seal the victory. Breanna McIntyre closed off the scoring by catching a pass for the convert.

For Seahawks’ coach Matty Hill it’s his second provincial title in as many years.

The Hamilton Jaguars lost the bronze medal game, falling 26-25 to the Guelph Seahawks.